Healing an act of compassion

Jesus came to this world to perform a ministry of healing. This was an essential element of His ministry and vocation.

A study of the Gospels will show that Jesus was a healer as well as being a preacher and teacher. The great amount of time He gave to healing demonstrates the deep concern He had for the mental and physical well-being of people. He knew that body and soul are inseparable, with one constantly acting and reacting on the other.

Today we talk about the importance of a "psychosomatic" attitude to illness. Jesus had the same approach when he sent his disciples to preach and to heal. (Mk 3:15, Lk 10:9).

Motive

When we look for the motive behind the healing ministry of our Saviour, we discover that it was pure compassion. The word "compassion" is compounded from two Latin words which together mean "to suffer with". He took to His heart, as we say, the despair of the leper (Mt 8:2), the agony of the paralytic (Lk 5:18), and the sorrow of the widow (Lk 7:13).

As Matthew put it, quoting Isaiah 53:4: "He took upon himself our weaknesses, and carried the burden of our diseases" (8:17 Barclay). So complete was His devotion to the needs of men and women that their pain was His pain, and their sorrow His sorrow.

Also, His teaching ministry was part of His work in establishing the kingdom of God among men. He said: "If I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you" (Lk 11:20).

When his 70 followers returned with joy, and said: "Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through your name", Jesus replied: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven" (Lk 10:17-18).

His mission on earth was to do battle with Satan, the greater usurper and intruder, who had brought such misery into the world; a battle, which continued until he was triumphant on the cross (Mt 4:1-11; Jn 12:27; 17:1; Eph 4:8),

The kingdom of God upon earth was to foreshadow the kingdom of God in heaven, where, "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away" (Rev 21:4).

So wherever and whenever Jesus met disease He destroyed it as being an alien intruder in God's beautiful and perfect world (Gen 1:31), and in the kingdom He had come to establish (Mt 10:7-8).

Salvation

The Greek word for salvation, "soleria", has the meaning of deliverance, preservation, and safety (Latin salus). John Wycliff, in his New Testament (1382-1384), which preceded the AV (1611), translated this word as "health" meaning wholeness of body, mind, and spirit.

For example, we read there the word of Jesus to Zacchaeus: "This day is health come to this house" (Lk 19:9).

Zacchaeus, as a tax-gatherer, suffered from the diseases of greed and hardness of heart. When this condition gave way to his new resolution to be kind and generous (v8) Zacchaeus entered into a new life of mental and spiritual health. For him salvation meant health and wholeness.

It is truly said that salvation has to do with sin. Through our trust in Christ as Saviour and Lord we have been saved from the penalty of sin (Rom 5:1), through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit we are being saved from the power of sin (Rom 15:16) and one day in heaven, we shall be saved from the very presence of sin (Rev 21:27).

But this salvation, to be complete, must include our body as well as our soul for we are one person. So we can say that through trust in Christ as Saviour and Lord we have been saved from the mental and physical ill-health that a life of sin always brings (Rom 6:23); that through the indwelling Holy Spirit we are being maintained in mental and bodily health (Phil 4;11-13); and that one day, in heaven, we shall be altogether free from every mental and bodily infirmity whatsoever.

For our present salvation see Lk 1:77; 2 Cor 1:6; 7:10; Phil 1:19; 2 Tim 2:10. For our future salvation see Rom 13:11; 1 Th 5:8; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5,9,10; Rev 7:10; 12:10; 19:1.

This does not mean that the Christian can expect a perfect disease-free existence in this life. This is not the teaching of the New Testament, or the experience of New Testament believers.

Paul was not cured of his "thorn" (2 Cor 12:7), possibly recurring malaria, or eye-disease (2 Cor 10:10; Gal 6:11).

Timothy did not enjoy good health (1 Tim 5:23).

Paul had to leave Trophimus ill at Miletus (2 Tim 4:20). Evidently he could not do anything for him. Epaphroditus likewise (Phil 2:27).

(To be continued)

Tuesday

EXODUS 15:22-27

All through the Bible it is claimed that faith in God leads to good health in body and mind, "for I am the Lord your healer" (v26).

"You shall serve the Lord God . . . and I will take sickness away from you" (Ex 23:26).

"Bless the Lord, O my soul . . . who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases", (Ps 103:1-3).

The forgiving of iniquity and the healing of diseases went together. So Jeremiah, urging the people to repent of their sin promised God's forgiveness and a return to good health.

"I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal: (Jer 30:17).

There is the same connection between forgiveness and healing in the ministry of Christ. (Matt 9:1-8).

Wednesday

1 PETER 5:1-11

Forgiveness and faith in God does not always lead to good health.

In God's sovereign will the believer may be allowed to suffer. We are not to react "as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings" (1 Pet 4:12-13).

Suffering is meant to lead us into an even deeper faith. Perhaps we lack sensitivity towards the needs of others, perhaps we are indifferent to the suffering of others. Then God allows us to suffer. Why?

Paul supplies the answer, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted of God" (2 Cor 1:3-4).

So, through suffering we are healed of our indifference and callousness.

Thursday

2 CORINTHIANS 12:1-10

"My grace is all you need; power comes to its full strength in weakness: (v9) N.E.B.).

In Dr H.W. Frust's book, Miraculous Healing, we read of a man who said to him ­ "Health is the best thing in the world ­ except sickness! Knowing what God has done for me through physical weakness, and being persuaded that certain blessings could never have been given to me in any other way than through such an experience, I feel that it would have been nothing short of a calamity to have missed the physical suffering through which I have passed."

Paul would have said the same (v10).

Friday

COLOSSIANS 1:9-12

"May he strengthen you, in his glorious might; with ample power to meet whatever comes with fortitude, patience, and joy" (v11 N.E.B.)

This prayer of Paul's for the Christians at Colossae should be our prayer for Christians everywhere.

Kagawa was perhaps the greatest leader yet produced by the Christian church in Japan. As a young man he was riddled with disease. He had tuberculosis in both lungs, and had heart and liver trouble.

At one stage of his life he had the experience of seeing a doctor write out his death certificate.

At that point he was converted.

His commitment to Christ was so great that tremendous power and energy flowed into his frail body. He went on to become a member of the Japanese cabinet; to be an evangelist; a theologian, a church planner, and the author of 60 books.

His claim was the same as Paul's, "I have strength for anything through Him who gives me power" (Phil 4:13 NEB).

Saturday

PHILIPPIANS 4:1-7

Agnes Sandford in her book, The Healing Light, tells us how to receive healing from Christ.

"Before you get into bed at night be sure to spend some time in prayer. Commit your whole life afresh to God. Thank and praise him for the blessings of the day, and let this note of praise and thankfulness wash away from your mind your troubles and complaints.

"Then let the abundant life Jesus promises to give you flow into your mind and body. The next morning, before the day begins, repeat the experience."

Sunday

ACTS 16:19-25

What a glorious scene this is!

It is the midnight hour. Paul and Silas are shackled in the dreaded inner prison, unable to sleep, and with their lacerated backs running with blood.

Suddenly the whole prison is filled with joyous songs of praise. It is God's song birds, singing in the dark!

"In the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life" (Ps 42:8).

Christ's health and healing was abroad ­ even there in prison!

Monday

MARK 16:1-7

When he denied his Lord with oaths and curses Peter must have felt that Jesus would have no more to do with him.

This special message for him must have filled him with incalcuable joy. Our Lord's gracious meeting with him (1 Cor 15:5), assured him of forgiveness, and his three-fold questioning of his love, sealed his heart to his master for ever. (Jn 21:15-19).